Variable-size-flat-sheet-delivery mechanism.



y H. M. BARBER. VARIABLE SIZE PLAT SHEET DIILIVBRY MECHANISM.

4 BHEETB BEBET 1.

Patented Sept. 13,1910.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 'l, 1907.

In velzfar H. M BARBER.

VARIABLE SIZE FLAT SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 7, 1907. 970,366, Patented Sept 13,1910.

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Wineses v H. -M. BARBER. VARIABLE SIZE FLAT SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM.

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4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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VARIABLE SIZE PLAT SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM.

Patented Sept. 13,1910.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 7, 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UN STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOWARD Mi BARBER, 0F STONINGTON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 0. B. COTTRELL & sons COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

VARIABLE-SIZEFLAT-SHEET-DELIVERY MECHANISM.

Original application filed April 12, 1907,

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD M. BARBER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Stonington, in the county of New London and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Variable- Size Flat Sheet Delivery Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists broadly in variable size flat sheet delivery mechanism and more particularly in mechanism arranged to deliver a collected group of variable size sheets as they are fed from a suitable source such, for instance, as a rotary printing press, flat on to a receiving board, utilizing sheet collecting and transfer cylinders, a reciprocating carriage and endless feeding ta es.

The several parts of the mechanlsm to be hereinafter described are so arranged that they may be readily adjusted to operate upon sheets of variable sizes.

In the accompanying drawings I have represented a rotary printing press of the perfecting type, to WlllCll press variable size sheets are fed from a mechanism which will only be generally described herein as such mechanism forms the subject-matter of a patent issued to me December 10, 1907, No. 873341, for variable size sheet cutting and feeding mechanism. I have also shown In connection with said printing press, a mechanism which is arranged to submit the variable size sheets as they are delivered one by one from a suitable source such, for instance, as a rotary printing press, to a first fold and a second fold, then cutting the folded sheets into signatures and finally submitting each of the sections to a folding operation and delivering them in signatures to a predetermined point. Such mechanism Wlll not be specifically described herein as it forms the subject-matter of an application filed by me April 12, 1907, Senal No. 367,747, entitled variable size sheet folding, cutting and delivering mechanism.

My present invention is devoted to the variable size flat sheet delivery mechanism as hereinbefore stated.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawin s in whichigure 1 is a view in side elevation of a rotary printing press, showing means for cutting variable size sheets from a web and Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 367,748. Divided and this application filed December 7,

Serial No. 405,525.

Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

feeding the same in perfect register to a printing press, mechanism for collecting, cutting and folding the variable size sheets as they come from the press and also mechanism for delivering collected groups of variable size sheets flat from the press on to a receiving board; Fig. 2 is a detail vertical section through the same, Fig. 2 is a detail section showing the sheet carrying tapes and the driving belt of the reciprocating sheet delivery carrier and their operating parts; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the flat. sheet delivering mechanism; Fig. 1 is an end view of the same, Fig. 5 is a detail view of the jogger operating mechanism, Fig. (3 is a detail view of the cam for operating the joggcrs, Fig. 7 is a detail top plan view of the mechanism for reciprocating the carriage, and Fig. 8 is a detail section of the same.

The first plate cylinder is denoted by l and its impression cylinder by 2. The second plate cylinder is denoted by 3 and its impression cylinder by 4. Variable size sheets are fed to the printing cylinders in the present instance by providing a vertically adjustable carriage 5 mounted in the side frames 6, which carriage carries the web feeding rolls 7, 8 9, 10 and the rotary cutters 11, 12. A cyl the variable size sheets from the cutters to the first impression cylinder 2 mounted in the side frames 6 and is driven at varying surface speeds throu h lobed gears 14, 15, from the shaft 16 of tlie first impression cylinder. The second impression cylinder 1 is provided with two sets of grippers 18,

, 19, which are arranged to transfer the ad- Vance edges of the sheets successively one at a time to the set of grippers 20 carried by the collecting cylinder 21 of my improved flat sheet delivery mechanism. The shaft of this collecting cylinder 21 is denoted by 22 and it is mounted in suitable hearings in the side frames 6. The collecting cylinder 21 is provided with a. tucking blade 23 which is arranged to coact with a set of folding grippers 24 on the transfer cylinder 25 when the machine is used for folding, cutting and delivering variable size sheets. This folding mechanism is not used in connection with my present invention.

A set of grippers 31 is provided on the transfer cylinder 25, which grippers are arincler 13 for feeding ranged to receive a collected group of sheets from the grippers 20 on the collecting cylinder 21 and transfer the said collected roup of sheets to the reciprocating sheet de ivery' carriage to be hereinafter described.

As the collected group of sheets is released from their grippers 31, it is delivered on to a plurality of stripping fingers 63 a position when the folding and cutting mechanism is in use and lowered into position to receive the collected group of sheets from the transfer cylinder when the flat sheet delivery mechanism is in use, the means employed for such purpose being an arm 70 fixed to the shaft 64 and having a locking device 71 arranged to be brought into engagement with a socket 72 on the side frames 6. The reciprocating delivery carriage for conveying the collected group of sheets from the transfer cylinder to the receiving board 73 comprises cross shafts 74, 75 and a longitudinal spacing bar 76. These cross sha 'ts 74, 75, are provided with slides 77, 78, on

their ends arranged to travel on tracks 79, 80 fixed within said side frames. Sheet carrying tapes 81 pass around pulleys on the shafts 74, 75.

A driving belt 82 passes around the pulley 83 loosely mounted on the shaft 64 concentric with a shaft 84, which pulley is driven intermittently by a train of gears 85,86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, the gear 91 being mounted to rotate with the shaft of the transfer cylinder 25. This driving belt' 82 leads forwardly from the pulley '83 andpasses around a pulley 92 on the cross shaft 75 of.

the carriage. From this point the belt leads rearwardly and passes around a ulley 93 supported by a bracket 94 depen mg from the, slide 77 at. one side of the carriage. From thence the belt 82 leads forwardly and around a driving clutch pulley 95 mounted on a cross shaft 96. After passing around the pulley 95, the belt leads rearwardly and passes around the pulley 83 hereinbefore. described. This arrangement of the driving belt permits the reciprocation of the carriage for bringing the collected group of sheets from the transfer cylinder to a point where the group of sheets maybe deposited upon the receiving board 73.

The reciprocation of the carriage and the intermittent movement of the'belt 82 and the sheet carrying tapes 81 are imparted by mechanism such as that shown, describedv and claimed in United States Letters Patent r cylinder 25.

No. 757,248, dated April 12, 1904, (granted to me for improvements in sheet elivery mechanism for printing machines. A short statement only'of the construction and operation of the said devices is therefore given herein.

The reciprocating movement of the flat sheet delivery carriage is imparted through the followin mechanism. The ear 48 on the shaft 0 the transfer 'cylin er meshes with a gear 98 on the shaft 99 of the second folding cylinder not used herein. A pinion 100 on the shaft 99' mesheswith a gear 101 on a cross shaft 102, which shaft passes through a stationary cam 103 in which the truck roll 104 of a slide 105 is located, which board 73 as they are delivered fiat from the delivery carriage is arranged as follows. Stationary stops 113 are clamped to a cross bar 114 in position to engage the advance edges of the to the pile. A longitudinally movable jogger 115 is providedwith rearwardly extended rack bars 116 which are engaged sheets as they are delivered on with pinions 117 fast to across rock shaft 118. A rocking movement is imparted to the shaft 118 from the rotary providing said shaft. with a box earn 119 in which the truck roll 120 of a connecting rod 121 is located, this rod 121 having its rear end supported on the shaft 102 and its front end connected to a crank 122' ad justably secured to the cross shaft 118 by a set screw 123. This crank 122 is shown in the present instance as a disk. The back jogger 115 may be adjusted to any desired position to accommodate it to variable size sheets by releasing the set screw 123 of the crank 122 and rotating the shaft 118 by hand. to advance or withdraw theback jogger 115 until it is brought into the desired gosition. The set screw 123 is then tightene to permit the cam 119 on the r0- tary shaft 102 to rock the same to impart a reciprocating movement to the back jogger.

Theside joggers are denoted by 124 and shaft 102' by are here, shown as arranged in pairs. Pairs 1 of parallel longitudinal bars 125, 126, form supports for the pairs of joggers and are themselves supported at their ends by carriages 127, 128, mounted on front and rear cross bars 129, 130 supported by the side frames 6. Each of the pairs of side joggers is independently adjustable toward and away from the other pair by providing the front and rear carriages 127, 128 of each pair of said side bars 125, 126, with gears 131, 132, carried by a hand shaft 133, the said gears meshing with racks 134, 135 in said front and rear cross bars 129, 130. These shafts 133 are provided with suitable crank handles 133*. The joggers 124 are adjustable longitudinally of the machine along their supporting side bars 125, 126. Each of the joggers 124 is provided with a parallel movement by pivoting the shank 136 of the jogger to rocking arms 137, 138. Both of the side bars 126 have the arms 138 of the joggers fixed thereto so that when these bars are rocked the proper movement is imparted to the j oggers. These bars 126 are connected to rock together by providing the bar 126 at one side of the machine with a depending arm 139 and connecting it by a crossrod 140 with one of the arms 138 of the other bar. To permit the joggers to be adjusted toward and away from each other, the cross rod 140 is provided with an elongated loop portion 141 and the arm 138 with which said rod 140 engages, is provided with a set screw 142 for clamping said arm to the rod 140 at any desired point along the loop portion 141. The rocking bar 126 at one side of the machine has its movement imparted to it from the rock shaft 118 as follows. The said rock shaft 118 has a bevel gear 143 adjustably secured thereto by a set screw 144, which bevel gear engages a bevel gear 145 on a stud shaft 146 supported in a hearing 147 carried by a bracket 148 secured to the side frame 6. This shaft 146 has fixed thereto a depending arm 149 which is connected to an arm 150 depending from the bar 126, through a connecting rod 151. To

permit the joggers to be adjusted laterally of the machine, the connecting rod 151 is provided with an elongated loop portion 152 and the arm 150 is provided with a set screw 153 for clamping the arm at any desired position along the loop portion 152. By loosening the said screw 144v of the bevel gear 143, the shaft 118 can be rotated by hand to adjust the back jogger 115 without disturbing the adjustment of the side joggers 124.

The flat sheet receiving board 73 is raised and lowered by hand and may be readily moved out of position when the required amount of sheets has been stacked thereon, by means of a truck. The side frames of the receiving board 73 are denoted by 154 and the front and rear traction wheels of the truck by 155. Transverse pulley shafts 156, 157 are mounted in suitable hearings in the side frames 6 and the pulleys on the said shafts are denoted by 158, 159 respectively. Rear and front flexible connections 160, 161, are connected at their lower ends to the side comprises a gear 166 fast on the shaft 156,

which gear meshes with a worm 167 fixed to a vertical hand shaft 163 supported in a bracket 169 secured to the side frame (3. This shaft 168 is provided with a-suitablc crank handle 170.

In operation, the rear and side joggers for the [lat sheet receiving board are first adjusted to the proper positions for the particular sized sheets which are to be delivered tint on to the board. The stripping fingers 63 are then lowered into position to coact with the transfer cylinder 25. The grippers 20 on the collectin cylinder 21, the grippers 31 on the transfer cylinder 25 and their cams are then adjusted with respect to each other for collecting and transferring sheets of a predetermined size from the second impression cylinder 4 to the Hat sheet delivery carriage. I

The second impression cylinder 4 as it rotates, will deliver four sheets successively from its grippers 18, 19. to the grippers .26 on the collecting cylinder 21. After four sheets have been collected on the cylinder 21, they are delivered to the grippers 31 on the transfer cylinder 25. After the four sheets have been delivered to the transfer cylinder, the grippers '31 are opened at the proper time to deliver the advance edges of the collected group of four sheets on to the stripping fingers 63. The feeding pulleys 65 will, by their coaction with the transfer cylinder 25, feed the collected group of four sheets on to the reciprocating flat sheet delivery carriage which at this time is at the limit of its rearward movement. The delivery carriage tapes 81 which are driven at the same speed as the advancing collected group of sheets, will feed the group of sheets along until it is delivered on to the carriage. The carriage will then be caused to move to the limit of its forward movement over the receiving board 73. When this position is reached, the carriage stops and reverses, the driving pulley 83 being at the same time thrown out of operation and the driving clutch pulley 95 is also held against reverse movement. This operation will allow the tapes to roll out from under the collected group of sheets as the sheet delivery carriage returns to the limit of its rearward movement, thus dopositing the collectcd group of sheets on to the receiving board 73. T 1e back and side joggers will bring the collected group of sheets into alinement with the previously deposited sheets on the sheet receiving board.

As the pile of sheets increases in height on.

the receiving board, the board may be lowered until the required amount of sheets is stacked thereon. The board is lowered onto the truck and the flexible connections claimed herein, form the subject-matter of a co-pending application filed by me April 12, 1907, Serial No. 367,748, entitled variable size flat sheet delivery mechanism, of which application this present application is a division.

What 'I claim is:

l. A sheet receiving board, means ar ranged to deposit variable size sheets fiat thereon, stops for the advance edges of the sheets, side j oggers for the sheets and means for adjustably supporting the side jogger-s comprising cross shafts having racks thereon, jogger carriages mounted on said cross shafts, manually operated shafts carried by said carriages and having gears meshing with said racks, pairs of parallel longitudinal bars forming supports for the side joggers and means for rocking said bars.

2.. A sheet receiving board, means arranged to deposit variable size sheets fiat thereon, stops for the advance edges of the sheets, side j oggers for the sheets and means for adjustably supporting the side joggers comprising cross shafts having racks thereon, jogger carriages mounted on said cross shafts, manually operated shafts carried by said carriages and having gears meshing with said racks, pairs of parallel longitu dinal bars forming supports for the side joggers, means for rocking said bars and adjustable means for connecting the two pairs of parallel longitudinal bars to rock together.

3. A sheet receiving board, means arranged to deposit variable size sheets flat thereon, stops for the advance edges of the sheets, side joggers for the sheets, laterally adjustable-supports for the joggers, adjustable means connecting the side joggers whereby the joggers on one side of the board are operated from the joggers on the other side of the board, and means-adjustably connected to one set of side jogge'rs for operating both sets of side joggers.

4. A sheet receiving board, means arranged to deposit .variable size sheets fiat thereon, stops for the advance edges of the sheets, a back jogger for the sheets, means for adjusting the back jogger bodily comfor adjusting the back jogger bodily comprising a rack carried bythe jogger, a cross shaft, a pinion thereon meshing with said rack and means for rocking the said shaft to 'impart the reciprocating movement to the jogger through said rack and pinion, said last named means comprising a crank secured to said cross shaft, a rotary shaft, a cam thereon and a connecting rod engaged by said cam and secured to said crank.

6. A sheet receiving board, means arranged to deposit variable size sheets flat thereon, stops for the advance edges of the sheets, a back jogger for the sheets, means for adjusting the back jogger bodily comprising a rack carried by the jogger, a cross shaft, a pinion thereon meshing with said rack and means for rocking said shaft to impart the reciprocating movement to the jogger through said rackand pinion, said last named means comprising a rotatively adj ustable crank secured to said cross shaft, a rotary shaft, a cam thereon and a connecting rod engaged by said camand secured to said crank.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two witnesses, this fifth day of 

